Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade
Encyclopedia
The East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army
(IRA), also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade was one of the most active republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland
during "the Troubles
". It is believed to have drawn its membership from across the eastern side of County Tyrone
as well as north County Monaghan
and south County Londonderry
.
, were following a Maoist
military theory devised for Ireland by Jim Lynagh
, a high-profile member of the IRA in east Tyrone (but a native of County Monaghan
). The theory involved creating "no-go zones" that the security forces of Northern Ireland did not control and gradually expanding them to make the country ungovernable. Lynagh's strategy was to start off with one area which the British military did not control, preferably a republican stronghold such as east Tyrone. The South Armagh area was considered to be a liberated zone already, since British troops and the RUC
could not use the roads there for fear of roadside bombs
and long-range harassing fire. Thus it was from there that the IRA East Tyrone Brigade attacks were launched, with most of them occurring in east Tyrone in areas close to south Armagh, which offered good escape routes. The first phase of Lynagh's plan to drive out the British security forces from east Tyrone involved destroying isolated rural police stations and then intimidating or killing any building contractors who were employed to rebuild them. Lynagh's plans met strong criticism from senior brigade member Kevin McKenna
, who regarded the strategy as "too impractical, too ambitious, and not sustainable" in the words of journalist Ed Moloney
. The IRA Northern Command
, however, approved a scaled down version of the strategy, aimed at hampering the repair and refurbishment of British security bases. Journalist Kevin Toolis states that from 1985 onwards, the Brigade led an overall five-year campaign that left 33 security facilities destroyed and nearly a hundred seriously damaged.
. The second attack was on the part-time station at The Birches and it began by driving a JCB
digger with a 200 lb (91 kg) bomb in its bucket through the reinforced fences the RUC had in place around their bases, and then exploding the bomb and raking the police station with gunfire. On these two occasions the stations were destroyed, and, in the first case, two of the occupants killed. In April 1987 they shot and killed Harold Henry, one of the main contractors to the British Army and the RUC in Northern Ireland.
RUC base. The IRA unit used the same tactics as it had done in the The Birches attack. It destroyed a substantial part of the base with a 200lb bomb and raked the building with gunfire. However, as their attack was underway, the IRA unit was ambushed by a Special Air Service
(SAS) unit. The SAS shot dead eight IRA members and a civilian who had accidentally driven into the ambush. This was the IRA's greatest loss of life in a single incident during its campaign. Six IRA members from a supporting unit managed to slip away.
The eight volunteers killed in the ambush became known as the "Loughgall Martyrs" among many republicans. They were:
Ed Moloney
, Irish journalist and author of the "A Secret History of the IRA
", and author Brendan O'Brien state that the brigade lost 53 members killed in the Troubles - the highest of any 'Brigade' area. Of these, 28 were killed between 1987 and 1992.
during this period of the Troubles were also launched from south Tyrone and Monaghan.
A major IRA attack in County Tyrone took place on 20 August 1988, barely a year after Loughall, which ended in the deaths of eight soldiers when a British Army bus was bombed
at Curr Road, near Ballygawley. The soldiers were being transported from RAF Aldergrove
to a military base near Omagh
after returning from leave in England. This attack forced the British military to ferry their troops to and from East Tyrone by helicopter.
On 30 August, an SAS ambush killed IRA members Gerard Harte, Martin Harte and Brian Mullin as they tried to kill an off-duty Ulster Defence Regiment
member near Carrickmore
. British intelligence identified them as the perpetrators of the attack on the military bus at Curr road.
According to journalist Ed Moloney
, Michael "Pete" Ryan, an alleged top Brigade's member, was the commander of the IRA flying column
that attacked a permanent checkpoint at Derryard
, County Fermanagh, on 13 December 1989. Journalist Ian Bruce, instead, claims that an Irishman who served on the Parachute Regiment was the leader of the IRA unit, citing intelligence sources. British military sources also report that other IRA volunteers from East Tyrone were involved in the assault. The checkpoint was stormed and two British soldiers killed in action.
a British Army Gazelle
helicopter near Clogher
by machine gun fire and wounding three soldiers, one of them seriously. The helicopter was hit between Clogher and Augher
, over the border near Derrygorry, in the Republic. The Gazelle broke up during the subsequent crash-landing. On 24 March 1990, there was a gunbattle between an IRA unit and undercover British forces at the village of Cappagh
, County Tyrone, when the IRA volunteers fired without warning at a civilian-type car driven by security forces, according to Archie Hamilton
, then Secretary of State for Defence
. An Phoblacht
claims that the IRA men thwarted an ambush and at least two SAS members were killed. Hamilton states that there were no security or civilian casualties. A second shooting took place in the village of Pomeroy
on 28 June, this time against British regular troops. A soldier was seriously wounded. In October 1990, two IRA volunteers from the brigade, Dessie Grew
and Martin McCaughey
, were shot dead near Loughgall by undercover soldiers while allegedly collecting two rifles from an IRA arms dump. On 1 January 1991, a British Army outpost was fire on by an IRA unit at Aughnacloy. On 3 June, three IRA men, Lawrence McNally, Michael Ryan and Tony Doris, died in another SAS ambush at Coagh
, where their car was raked with gunfire. Michael Ryan was the same man who according to Moloney had led the mixed flying column under direct orders of top IRA Army Council
member 'Slab' Murphy two years before. The RUC stated the men were on their way to mount an ambush on Protestant workmen.
In January 1992, IRA members killed eight building workers and severely injured another six, with a landmine at Teebane near Cookstown
, on their way back from a British Army base. One of the workers killed, Robert Dunseath, was also a member of the Royal Irish Rangers
.
The men were working to re-build RUC/Army barracks damaged by IRA bombs. The men were all Protestants and this was widely perceived as a sectarian attack.
Another four IRA members were killed in an ambush in February 1992
. The four, Peter Clancy, Kevin Barry O'Donnell, Sean O'Farrell and Patrick Vincent, were killed at Clonoe
after an attack on the RUC station in Coalisland
. O'Donnell had been released without charges for possession of weapons in two different occasions in the past. Whereas the previous ambushes of IRA men had been well planned by Special Forces, the Clonoe killings owed much to a series of mistakes of the IRA men in question. They had mounted a heavy DShK
machine gun on the back of a stolen lorry, driven right to the RUC/British Army station and opened fire with tracer
ammunition at the fortified base at point-blank, when the long-range of the weapon would unable them to fire from a safe distance. No efforts were made to conceal the firing position or the machine gun. After the shooting they drove past the house of Tony Doris, the IRA man killed the previous year, where they fired more shots in the air and were heard to shout, "Up the 'RA, that's for Tony Doris". A support vehicle further compromised the getaway by flashing its emergency lights. The six attackers gathered on the same spot, instead of vanishing separately. The IRA men were intercepted by the SAS as they were trying to dump the lorry and escape in cars in the car park of Clonoe Roman Catholic church, whose roof was set on fire by Army flares. Two IRA men got away from the scene, but the four named above were killed. One British soldier was wounded. One witness has said that some of the men were wounded and tried to surrender but were then killed by the British soldiers.
In addition, the IRA in Tyrone was the target of an assassination campaign carried out by the loyalist paramilitaries of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). The UVF killed 40 people in east Tyrone between 1988 and 1994. Of these, most were Catholics civilians with no paramilitary connections but six were Provisional Irish Republican Army
members. The IRA responded by killing senior UVF man and former UDR member Leslie Dallas on 7 March 1989, but the UVF shot dead three IRA members and a Catholic civilian in a pub in Cappagh on 3 March 1991
. The intended target, Brian Arthurs, escaped injury. The IRA retaliated on 5 August 1991, when they shot and killed a former UDR soldier along Altmore
Road, also in Cappagh. Another former UDR soldier was killed when an IRA bomb exploded underneath his car in Kildress
, County Tyrone in April 1993; it was claimed that he had loyalist connections. The later attack led to allegations that the IRA was killing Protestant land-owners in Tyrone and Fermanagh in an orchestrated campaign to drive Protestants out of the region.
In March 1992, members of the brigade destroyed McGowan's service station along the Ballygawley/Monaghan road, on the basis that they were supplying British forces, while a soldier was injured by a bomb near Augher.
Another IRA bomb attack against British troops, near Cappagh, during which a paratrooper lost both legs, triggered a series of clashes between soldiers and local residents in the staunchly republican town of Coalisland, on 12 and 17 May 1992. The 12 May's riots ended with the paratroopers' assault on three bar
s, where they injured seven civilians. Another street fracas on 17 May between a King's Own Scottish Borderers
platoon and a group of nationalist youths in Coalisland resulted in the theft of an army machine gun
and a new confrontation with the paratroopers.
Six paratroopers were charged with criminal damage in the aftermath, but they were acquitted in 1993. Five of them were bound over
.
Another British soldier was injured in Pomeroy when his patrol was fired on by an IRA unit on 2 August 1992.
The brigade was the first to use the Mark-15 Barrack-Buster mortar
in an attack on 5 December 1992 against a police station in Ballygawley.
From mid-1992 up to the 1994 cease fire, IRA units in east and south Tyrone executed a total of eight mortar attacks against police and military facilities and were also responsible for at least 16 bombings and shootings. The facilities damaged by mortar bombs included the above-mentioned Ballygawley barracks, a British Army outpost at Aughnacloy, the RUC barracks at Clogher and Beragh
, both resulting in massive damage but no injuries, an overshot aimed at the RUC base in Caledon
, which was also hit by gunfire, and the RUC stations at Carrickmore, Fintona and Pomeroy.
At least five members of the security forces were killed by the IRA in around this area during the same period. Among the killed were two constables who were shot dead while driving a civilian type vehicle in Fivemiletown
's main street on 12 December 1993. A British Army helicopter was fired on in the aftermath of the ambush. Another fatality was a Royal Irish Regiment soldier from Cookstown who was abducted and shot dead while on leave; his body was later found in the outskirts of Armagh
town on 21 May 1994. His elder brother, a civilian contractor to the Ministry of Defense, had died in a South Armagh Brigade mortar attack one year before, while working inside an Army base near Keady
, County Armagh.
Róisín McAliskey
, daughter of political activist Bernadette McAliskey and suspected IRA member from Coalisland was accused by German authorities of being involved in a mortar attack on British Army facilities in Osnabrück
, Germany
, on 28 June 1996. Her extradition from Northern Ireland was refused in 2007.
The commander in chief of the brigade, Kevin MacKenna, was also appointed 'chief of staff' of the IRA in 1983. He later became the longest-serving volunteer in this job, right up to the 1997 cease-fire.
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA), also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade was one of the most active republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
during "the Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
". It is believed to have drawn its membership from across the eastern side of County Tyrone
County Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
as well as north County Monaghan
County Monaghan
County Monaghan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Council is the local authority for the county...
and south County Londonderry
County Londonderry
The place name Derry is an anglicisation of the old Irish Daire meaning oak-grove or oak-wood. As with the city, its name is subject to the Derry/Londonderry name dispute, with the form Derry preferred by nationalists and Londonderry preferred by unionists...
.
Lynagh's strategy
In the 1980s, the IRA in East Tyrone and other areas close to the border, such as South ArmaghSouth Armagh
South Armagh can refer to:*The southern part of County Armagh*South Armagh *South Armagh...
, were following a Maoist
Maoism
Maoism, also known as the Mao Zedong Thought , is claimed by Maoists as an anti-Revisionist form of Marxist communist theory, derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong . Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely applied as the political and military guiding...
military theory devised for Ireland by Jim Lynagh
Jim Lynagh
Jim Lynagh from Monaghan Town, County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, was a volunteer in the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .-Background:...
, a high-profile member of the IRA in east Tyrone (but a native of County Monaghan
County Monaghan
County Monaghan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Council is the local authority for the county...
). The theory involved creating "no-go zones" that the security forces of Northern Ireland did not control and gradually expanding them to make the country ungovernable. Lynagh's strategy was to start off with one area which the British military did not control, preferably a republican stronghold such as east Tyrone. The South Armagh area was considered to be a liberated zone already, since British troops and the RUC
RUC
RUC may refer to: or Coimbra University Radio, a Portuguese university station* Rapid Update Cycle, an atmospheric prediction system* Renmin University of China* Roskilde University or Roskilde Universitetscenter...
could not use the roads there for fear of roadside bombs
Improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...
and long-range harassing fire. Thus it was from there that the IRA East Tyrone Brigade attacks were launched, with most of them occurring in east Tyrone in areas close to south Armagh, which offered good escape routes. The first phase of Lynagh's plan to drive out the British security forces from east Tyrone involved destroying isolated rural police stations and then intimidating or killing any building contractors who were employed to rebuild them. Lynagh's plans met strong criticism from senior brigade member Kevin McKenna
Kevin McKenna
Kevin James McKenna is a Canadian professional soccer player who currently plays for 1. FC Köln in the German Bundesliga...
, who regarded the strategy as "too impractical, too ambitious, and not sustainable" in the words of journalist Ed Moloney
Ed Moloney
Ed Moloney is an Irish journalist and author best known for his coverage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and particularly the activities of the Provisional IRA. Ed worked for the Hibernia magazine and Magill before going on to serve as Northern Ireland editor for The Irish Times and...
. The IRA Northern Command
IRA Northern Command
Northern Command was a command division in the Irish Republican Army and Provisional IRA, responsible for directing IRA operations in the northern part of Ireland.-IRA:...
, however, approved a scaled down version of the strategy, aimed at hampering the repair and refurbishment of British security bases. Journalist Kevin Toolis states that from 1985 onwards, the Brigade led an overall five-year campaign that left 33 security facilities destroyed and nearly a hundred seriously damaged.
Before the Loughgall ambush
Members of the East Tyrone Brigade had previously carried out two attacks on RUC bases in their operational area, described by author Mark Urban as "spectaculars". The first was an assault on Ballygawley barracksAttack on Ballygawley barracks
The attack on Ballygawley RUC barracks was an attack carried out on 7 December 1985 by a Provisional Irish Republican Army group against a Royal Ulster Constabulary barracks at Ballygawley, County Tyrone...
. The second attack was on the part-time station at The Birches and it began by driving a JCB
J. C. Bamford
JCB is a global construction, demolition and agricultural equipment company headquartered in Rocester, United Kingdom. It is the world's third-largest construction equipment manufacturer. It produces over 300 types of machines, including diggers , excavators, tractors and diesel engines...
digger with a 200 lb (91 kg) bomb in its bucket through the reinforced fences the RUC had in place around their bases, and then exploding the bomb and raking the police station with gunfire. On these two occasions the stations were destroyed, and, in the first case, two of the occupants killed. In April 1987 they shot and killed Harold Henry, one of the main contractors to the British Army and the RUC in Northern Ireland.
The Loughgall ambush
On 8 May 1987, at least eight members of the brigade launched an attack on the unmanned LoughgallLoughgall
Loughgall is a small village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 285 people.Loughgall was named after a small nearby loch. The village is at the heart of the apple-growing industry and is surrounded by orchards. Along the village's main street...
RUC base. The IRA unit used the same tactics as it had done in the The Birches attack. It destroyed a substantial part of the base with a 200lb bomb and raked the building with gunfire. However, as their attack was underway, the IRA unit was ambushed by a Special Air Service
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
(SAS) unit. The SAS shot dead eight IRA members and a civilian who had accidentally driven into the ambush. This was the IRA's greatest loss of life in a single incident during its campaign. Six IRA members from a supporting unit managed to slip away.
The eight volunteers killed in the ambush became known as the "Loughgall Martyrs" among many republicans. They were:
- Patrick KellyPatrick Joseph KellyPatrick Joseph Kelly born Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, was the head of the Tyrone Brigade and the Commander of the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army during the mid 1980s until his death in a Special Air Service ambush at Loughgall, County Armagh in May...
, aged 32, brigade's commander from CarrickfergusCarrickfergusCarrickfergus , known locally and colloquially as "Carrick", is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,201 at the 2001 Census and takes its name from Fergus Mór mac Eirc, the 6th century king...
in County AntrimCounty AntrimCounty Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
. - Jim LynaghJim LynaghJim Lynagh from Monaghan Town, County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, was a volunteer in the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .-Background:...
, aged 31, was from Monaghan Town. A volunteer since the early 1970s, Lynagh was suspected to have been involved in the 1981 killing of Norman StrongeNorman StrongeCaptain Sir Charles Norman Lockhart Stronge, 8th Baronet, MC, PC , JP was a senior Unionist politician in Northern Ireland....
. - Pádraig McKearneyPádraig McKearneyPádraig Oliver McKearney was a Marxist-oriented Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer. He was killed in a Special Air Service ambush with seven other IRA men at Loughgall, County Armagh in May 1987.-Background:...
, from MoyMoy, County TyroneMoy or The Moy is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 1,218.It is about southeast of Dungannon and is beside the smaller village of Charlemont. Charlemont is on the east bank of the River Blackwater and Moy on the west; the two are...
, aged 32, had also joined the IRA in the early 1970s and took part in the Maze Prison escapeMaze Prison escapeThe Maze Prison escape took place on 25 September 1983 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. HM Prison Maze was a maximum security prison considered to be one of the most escape-proof prisons in Europe, and held prisoners convicted of taking part in armed paramilitary campaigns during the Troubles...
. - Declan Arthurs, a 21-year-old from the townland of Galbally in TyroneGalbally, County TyroneGalbally is a hamlet and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is between Cappagh and Donaghmore. Its name was formerly spelt as Gallwolly and Gallwally....
, who became involved in the republican movement after attending the funeral of hunger striker Martin HursonMartin HursonEdward Martin Hurson was an Irish republican hunger striker and a volunteer in the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .-Background:...
. Prior to the Loughgall AmbushLoughgall AmbushThe Loughgall ambush took place on 8 May 1987 in the village of Loughgall, Northern Ireland. An eight-man Provisional Irish Republican Army group launched an attack on the village's Royal Ulster Constabulary station, but was ambushed by a British Army Special Air Service unit of twenty-five. The...
, Arthurs had been arrested on three occasions. - Seamus Donnelly, aged 19, was the youngest to die in the ambush. Donnelly was also from Galbally.
- Eugene Kelly, a 25-year-old who was recruited for his detailed geographical knowledge of rural areas of County Tyrone and Armagh
- Gerry O'Callaghan, aged 29, had previously been arrested alongside McKearney in 1980 and later took part in the blanket protestsBlanket protestThe blanket protest was part of a five year protest during the Troubles by Provisional Irish Republican Army and Irish National Liberation Army prisoners held in the Maze prison in Northern Ireland. The republican prisoners' status as political prisoners, known as Special Category Status, had...
. - Tony Gormley, aged 25, was also from Galbally where he operated an engineering sub-contracting company.
Ed Moloney
Ed Moloney
Ed Moloney is an Irish journalist and author best known for his coverage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and particularly the activities of the Provisional IRA. Ed worked for the Hibernia magazine and Magill before going on to serve as Northern Ireland editor for The Irish Times and...
, Irish journalist and author of the "A Secret History of the IRA
A Secret History of the IRA
A Secret History of the IRA by award-winning journalist Ed Moloney. In The Blanket, an on-line journal, reviewer Liam O Ruairc described the book as potentially "the standard if not the definitive work on the history of the Provisional IRA"...
", and author Brendan O'Brien state that the brigade lost 53 members killed in the Troubles - the highest of any 'Brigade' area. Of these, 28 were killed between 1987 and 1992.
In the aftermath of the Loughgall ambush
The SAS ambush had no noticeable long-term effect on the level of IRA activity in East Tyrone. In the two years prior to the Loughgall ambush the IRA killed seven people in East Tyrone and North Armagh, and eleven in the two years following the ambush. Most of the attacks which took place in County FermanaghCounty Fermanagh
Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....
during this period of the Troubles were also launched from south Tyrone and Monaghan.
A major IRA attack in County Tyrone took place on 20 August 1988, barely a year after Loughall, which ended in the deaths of eight soldiers when a British Army bus was bombed
Ballygawley bus bombing
The Ballygawley bus bombing was an attack by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on a bus carrying British Army soldiers in Northern Ireland...
at Curr Road, near Ballygawley. The soldiers were being transported from RAF Aldergrove
RAF Aldergrove
RAF Aldergrove was a Royal Air Force station situated northwest of Belfast. It adjoined Belfast International Airport, sometimes referred to simply as Aldergrove which is the name of the surrounding area...
to a military base near Omagh
Omagh
Omagh is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. The town, which is the largest in the county, had a population of 19,910 at the 2001 Census. Omagh also contains the headquarters of Omagh District Council and...
after returning from leave in England. This attack forced the British military to ferry their troops to and from East Tyrone by helicopter.
On 30 August, an SAS ambush killed IRA members Gerard Harte, Martin Harte and Brian Mullin as they tried to kill an off-duty Ulster Defence Regiment
Ulster Defence Regiment
The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army which became operational in 1970, formed on similar lines to other British reserve forces but with the operational role of defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage...
member near Carrickmore
Carrickmore
Carrickmore is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies in the heart of the county on an raised site colloquially called "The Rock"; between Cookstown, Dungannon and Omagh. It had a population of 612 in the 2001 Census.-History:...
. British intelligence identified them as the perpetrators of the attack on the military bus at Curr road.
According to journalist Ed Moloney
Ed Moloney
Ed Moloney is an Irish journalist and author best known for his coverage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and particularly the activities of the Provisional IRA. Ed worked for the Hibernia magazine and Magill before going on to serve as Northern Ireland editor for The Irish Times and...
, Michael "Pete" Ryan, an alleged top Brigade's member, was the commander of the IRA flying column
Flying column
A flying column is a small, independent, military land unit capable of rapid mobility and usually composed of all arms. It is often an ad hoc unit, formed during the course of operations....
that attacked a permanent checkpoint at Derryard
Attack on Derryard checkpoint
The attack on Derryard checkpoint was a raid carried out on 13 December 1989 by a Provisional Irish Republican Army unit against a British Army permanent vehicle checkpoint manned by soldiers of the King's Own Scottish Borderers . It occurred near the Northern Ireland–Republic of Ireland border at...
, County Fermanagh, on 13 December 1989. Journalist Ian Bruce, instead, claims that an Irishman who served on the Parachute Regiment was the leader of the IRA unit, citing intelligence sources. British military sources also report that other IRA volunteers from East Tyrone were involved in the assault. The checkpoint was stormed and two British soldiers killed in action.
From 1990 up to the first PIRA ceasefire
On 11 February 1990 the brigade managed to shoot down1990 British Army Gazelle shootdown
On 11 February 1990, an active service unit of the Provisional IRA, East Tyrone Brigade, shot down a British Army Gazelle helicopter, serial number ZB687, along the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland near Augher, County Tyrone, close to the Republic's village of Derrygorry...
a British Army Gazelle
Aérospatiale Gazelle
The Aérospatiale Gazelle is a five-seat light helicopter, powered by a single turbine engine. It was designed and manufactured in France by Sud Aviation . It was also manufactured under licence by Westland Aircraft in the United Kingdom , by SOKO in Yugoslavia and ABHCO in Egypt...
helicopter near Clogher
Clogher
Clogher is a village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Blackwater, south of Omagh. The United Kingdom Census of 2001 recorded a population of 309.-History:...
by machine gun fire and wounding three soldiers, one of them seriously. The helicopter was hit between Clogher and Augher
Augher
Augher is a small village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is 18 miles southwest of Dungannon, on the A4 Dungannon to Enniskillen road, halfway between Ballygawley and Clogher. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 399....
, over the border near Derrygorry, in the Republic. The Gazelle broke up during the subsequent crash-landing. On 24 March 1990, there was a gunbattle between an IRA unit and undercover British forces at the village of Cappagh
Cappagh
Cappagh is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is between Pomeroy, Ballygawley, Galbally and Carrickmore, with the hamlet of Galbally about one mile to the east...
, County Tyrone, when the IRA volunteers fired without warning at a civilian-type car driven by security forces, according to Archie Hamilton
Archie Hamilton, Baron Hamilton of Epsom
Archibald Gavin Hamilton, Baron Hamilton of Epsom, PC is a British Conservative Party politician.-Background and education:...
, then Secretary of State for Defence
Secretary of State for Defence
The Secretary of State for Defence, popularly known as the Defence Secretary, is the senior Government of the United Kingdom minister in charge of the Ministry of Defence, chairing the Defence Council. It is a Cabinet position...
. An Phoblacht
An Phoblacht
An Phoblacht is the official newspaper of Sinn Féin in Ireland. It is published once a month, and according to its website sells an average of up to 15,000 copies every month and was the first Irish paper to provide an edition online and currently having in excess of 100,000 website hits per...
claims that the IRA men thwarted an ambush and at least two SAS members were killed. Hamilton states that there were no security or civilian casualties. A second shooting took place in the village of Pomeroy
Pomeroy, County Tyrone
Pomeroy is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is in the townland of Cavanakeeran, about from Cookstown, from Dungannon and from Omagh. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 604 people....
on 28 June, this time against British regular troops. A soldier was seriously wounded. In October 1990, two IRA volunteers from the brigade, Dessie Grew
Dessie Grew
Desmond "Dessie" Grew , was a volunteer in the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army . Grew was killed by undercover British Army soldiers in County Armagh in 1990 along with fellow IRA volunteer, Martin McCaughey.-Background:Grew was the second eldest in a family of seven...
and Martin McCaughey
Martin McCaughey
Gerard Patrick Martin McCaughey was a volunteer in the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army from Aughnagar, Galbally, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. McCaughey was killed by undercover British Army soldiers in County Armagh on October 1990 along with fellow IRA volunteer,...
, were shot dead near Loughgall by undercover soldiers while allegedly collecting two rifles from an IRA arms dump. On 1 January 1991, a British Army outpost was fire on by an IRA unit at Aughnacloy. On 3 June, three IRA men, Lawrence McNally, Michael Ryan and Tony Doris, died in another SAS ambush at Coagh
Coagh
Coagh is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, situated five miles east of Cookstown. Part of the village also extends into County Londonderry. It had a population of 545 people in the 2001 Census...
, where their car was raked with gunfire. Michael Ryan was the same man who according to Moloney had led the mixed flying column under direct orders of top IRA Army Council
IRA Army Council
The IRA Army Council was the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA, a paramilitary group dedicated to bringing about the end of the Union between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The council had seven members, said by the...
member 'Slab' Murphy two years before. The RUC stated the men were on their way to mount an ambush on Protestant workmen.
In January 1992, IRA members killed eight building workers and severely injured another six, with a landmine at Teebane near Cookstown
Cookstown
Cookstown may refer to either of the following:*Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland*Cookstown, Ontario, Canada*Cookstown, New Jersey, United States...
, on their way back from a British Army base. One of the workers killed, Robert Dunseath, was also a member of the Royal Irish Rangers
Royal Irish Rangers
The Royal Irish Rangers was a regular infantry regiment of the British Army.-Creation:...
.
The men were working to re-build RUC/Army barracks damaged by IRA bombs. The men were all Protestants and this was widely perceived as a sectarian attack.
Another four IRA members were killed in an ambush in February 1992
Clonoe ambush
The Clonoe ambush happened on 16 February 1992 in the village of Clonoe, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. A local Provisional Irish Republican Army unit was ambushed by the Special Air Service at a graveyard after launching a machine-gun attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary base in Coalisland...
. The four, Peter Clancy, Kevin Barry O'Donnell, Sean O'Farrell and Patrick Vincent, were killed at Clonoe
Clonoe
Clonoe is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It includes O'Rahilly Park where the Clonoe O'Rahillys Gaelic Athletic Association club play their home games....
after an attack on the RUC station in Coalisland
Coalisland
Coalisland is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with a population of 4,917 people . As its name suggests, it was formerly a centre for coal mining.-History:...
. O'Donnell had been released without charges for possession of weapons in two different occasions in the past. Whereas the previous ambushes of IRA men had been well planned by Special Forces, the Clonoe killings owed much to a series of mistakes of the IRA men in question. They had mounted a heavy DShK
DShK
The DShK 1938 is a Soviet heavy machine gun firing the 12.7x108mm cartridge. The weapon was also used as a heavy infantry machine gun, in which case it was frequently deployed with a two-wheeled mounting and a single-sheet armour-plate shield...
machine gun on the back of a stolen lorry, driven right to the RUC/British Army station and opened fire with tracer
Tracer ammunition
Tracer ammunition are bullets that are built with a small pyrotechnic charge in their base. Ignited by the burning powder, the phosphorus tail burns very brightly, making the projectile visible to the naked eye...
ammunition at the fortified base at point-blank, when the long-range of the weapon would unable them to fire from a safe distance. No efforts were made to conceal the firing position or the machine gun. After the shooting they drove past the house of Tony Doris, the IRA man killed the previous year, where they fired more shots in the air and were heard to shout, "Up the 'RA, that's for Tony Doris". A support vehicle further compromised the getaway by flashing its emergency lights. The six attackers gathered on the same spot, instead of vanishing separately. The IRA men were intercepted by the SAS as they were trying to dump the lorry and escape in cars in the car park of Clonoe Roman Catholic church, whose roof was set on fire by Army flares. Two IRA men got away from the scene, but the four named above were killed. One British soldier was wounded. One witness has said that some of the men were wounded and tried to surrender but were then killed by the British soldiers.
In addition, the IRA in Tyrone was the target of an assassination campaign carried out by the loyalist paramilitaries of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). The UVF killed 40 people in east Tyrone between 1988 and 1994. Of these, most were Catholics civilians with no paramilitary connections but six were Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
members. The IRA responded by killing senior UVF man and former UDR member Leslie Dallas on 7 March 1989, but the UVF shot dead three IRA members and a Catholic civilian in a pub in Cappagh on 3 March 1991
1991 Cappagh killings
The 1991 Cappagh killings was a gun attack by the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force on 3 March 1991 in the village of Cappagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland...
. The intended target, Brian Arthurs, escaped injury. The IRA retaliated on 5 August 1991, when they shot and killed a former UDR soldier along Altmore
Altmore
Altmore is a hamlet and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is five miles from Carrickmore and four miles from Pomeroy. Most of the community consists of farmers who make their livelihood in cattle and pig farming...
Road, also in Cappagh. Another former UDR soldier was killed when an IRA bomb exploded underneath his car in Kildress
Kildress
Kildress is a village on the outskirts of Cookstown in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is home to a Gaelic Athletics club of the same name, as well as being located close to Drum Manor Forest Park and Wellbrook Beetling Mill....
, County Tyrone in April 1993; it was claimed that he had loyalist connections. The later attack led to allegations that the IRA was killing Protestant land-owners in Tyrone and Fermanagh in an orchestrated campaign to drive Protestants out of the region.
Another IRA bomb attack against British troops, near Cappagh, during which a paratrooper lost both legs, triggered a series of clashes between soldiers and local residents in the staunchly republican town of Coalisland, on 12 and 17 May 1992. The 12 May's riots ended with the paratroopers' assault on three bar
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
s, where they injured seven civilians. Another street fracas on 17 May between a King's Own Scottish Borderers
King's Own Scottish Borderers
The King's Own Scottish Borderers was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division.-History:It was raised on 18 March 1689 by the Earl of Leven to defend Edinburgh against the Jacobite forces of James II. It is said that 800 men were recruited within the space of two hours...
platoon and a group of nationalist youths in Coalisland resulted in the theft of an army machine gun
General purpose machine gun
A general-purpose machine gun is a multi-purpose weapon: it is a machine gun firing a full-power rifle cartridge and which can be used in a variety of roles, from a bipod- or tripod-mounted infantry support weapon to a helicopter door gun or a vehicle-mounted support weapon...
and a new confrontation with the paratroopers.
Six paratroopers were charged with criminal damage in the aftermath, but they were acquitted in 1993. Five of them were bound over
Bind over
Bind over, binding over order or bind over for sentence is a legal term relating to a power exercised by magistrates in England and Wales and in other common law jurisdictions such as Hong Kong....
.
Another British soldier was injured in Pomeroy when his patrol was fired on by an IRA unit on 2 August 1992.
The brigade was the first to use the Mark-15 Barrack-Buster mortar
Barrack buster
Barrack buster is the colloquial name given to several improvised mortars, developed in the 1990s by the engineering group of the Provisional Irish Republican Army ....
in an attack on 5 December 1992 against a police station in Ballygawley.
From mid-1992 up to the 1994 cease fire, IRA units in east and south Tyrone executed a total of eight mortar attacks against police and military facilities and were also responsible for at least 16 bombings and shootings. The facilities damaged by mortar bombs included the above-mentioned Ballygawley barracks, a British Army outpost at Aughnacloy, the RUC barracks at Clogher and Beragh
Beragh
Beragh is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is about east of Omagh. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 520.-History:One of the first known references to the village was on a 1690 Plantation map of Ireland...
, both resulting in massive damage but no injuries, an overshot aimed at the RUC base in Caledon
Caledon, County Tyrone
Caledon , historically known as Kinnaird , is a small village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is in the Clogher Valley on the banks of the River Blackwater, 7 miles from Armagh. It lies in the southeast of Tyrone and near the borders of County Armagh and County Monaghan. In the...
, which was also hit by gunfire, and the RUC stations at Carrickmore, Fintona and Pomeroy.
At least five members of the security forces were killed by the IRA in around this area during the same period. Among the killed were two constables who were shot dead while driving a civilian type vehicle in Fivemiletown
Fivemiletown
Fivemiletown is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is 16 miles east of Enniskillen and 26 miles west-south-west of Dungannon, on the A4 Enniskillen-to-Dungannon road. Its population as of 2009 is estimated to be 1,128. The village is most famous for its creamery, which...
's main street on 12 December 1993. A British Army helicopter was fired on in the aftermath of the ambush. Another fatality was a Royal Irish Regiment soldier from Cookstown who was abducted and shot dead while on leave; his body was later found in the outskirts of Armagh
Armagh
Armagh is a large settlement in Northern Ireland, and the county town of County Armagh. It is a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity and is the seat, for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland, of the Archbishop of Armagh...
town on 21 May 1994. His elder brother, a civilian contractor to the Ministry of Defense, had died in a South Armagh Brigade mortar attack one year before, while working inside an Army base near Keady
Keady
Keady is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is situated south of Armagh city and very close to the border with the Republic of Ireland. The town had a population of 2,960 people in the 2001 Census....
, County Armagh.
List of actions from 1996 up to the latest PIRA ceasefire
There were a number of actions carried out by the IRA in the eastern part of Tyrone from 1996 up to the latest IRA ceasefire of July 1997:- 2 February 1996: The house of a part-time member of the RUC was riddled with gunfire in Moy. A 'senior security source' claimed that the IRA was responsible, though the IRA later denied any involvement in the incident.
- 5 February 1997: An IRA unit fired a horizontal mortar at a British patrol on Newell Road in Dungannon. There were no injuries.
- 10 February 1997: A horizontal mortar fired by an IRA unit hit an RUC armoured vehicle leaving a security base. The ambush took place outside the village of Pomeroy. One RUC officer was injured.
- 22 February 1997: An IRA mortar unit was intercepted by the RUC in CaledonCaledon, County TyroneCaledon , historically known as Kinnaird , is a small village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is in the Clogher Valley on the banks of the River Blackwater, 7 miles from Armagh. It lies in the southeast of Tyrone and near the borders of County Armagh and County Monaghan. In the...
, on its way to carry out an attack on a British security facility. A five-mile (8 km) chase followed before the IRA volunteers managed to escape on foot. - 26 March 1997: A grenade was thrown by IRA volunteers to the Army/RUC base at Coalisland. The device holed the perimeter fence. Undercover members of the British Army shot and seriously injured 19 year-old Gareth Doris in the aftermath. The soldiers left the scene under the protection of the RUC after being cornered by a crowd. Two women were wounded by plastic bullets fired by RUC officers. Doris recovered from his wounds and was sentenced to ten years in jail for alleged involvement in the attack before being released in 2000 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. See 1997 Coalisland attack1997 Coalisland attackOn the evening of 26 March 1997, the Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade launched an improvised grenade attack on the fortified RUC/British Army base in Coalisland, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The blast sparked an immediate reaction by an SAS unit, who shot and wounded alleged IRA volunteer...
- 5 July 1997: An IRA unit shot and seriously wounded an RUC female officer in the town of Coalisland during an attack on an armoured vehicle.
- 8 July 1997: A landmine was planted by the IRA near Dungannon, where there was a bomb alert.
- 9 July 1997: IRA gunmen hijacked and burned a number of vehicles at Dungannon.
Róisín McAliskey
Róisín McAliskey
Róisín Elizabeth McAliskey is an Irish political activist. She is the elder daughter of republican activists Bernadette and Michael McAliskey...
, daughter of political activist Bernadette McAliskey and suspected IRA member from Coalisland was accused by German authorities of being involved in a mortar attack on British Army facilities in Osnabrück
Osnabrück
Osnabrück is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, on 28 June 1996. Her extradition from Northern Ireland was refused in 2007.
The commander in chief of the brigade, Kevin MacKenna, was also appointed 'chief of staff' of the IRA in 1983. He later became the longest-serving volunteer in this job, right up to the 1997 cease-fire.
See also
- Provisional IRA campaign 1969-1997
- Provisional IRA South Armagh BrigadeProvisional IRA South Armagh BrigadeThe South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army operated during the Troubles in south County Armagh. It was organised into two battalions, one around Jonesborough and another around Crossmaglen. By the 1990s, the South Armagh Brigade was thought to consist of about 40 members,...
- Provisional IRA Belfast BrigadeProvisional IRA Belfast BrigadeThe Belfast Brigade of the Provisional IRA was the largest of the organisation's command areas, based in the city of Belfast. Founded in 1969, along with the formation of the Provisional IRA, it was historically organised into three battalions; the First Battalion based in the...
Sources
- O'Brien, Brendan (1999). The Long War-the IRA and Sinn Féin. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-86278-606-1
- Moloney, EdEd MoloneyEd Moloney is an Irish journalist and author best known for his coverage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and particularly the activities of the Provisional IRA. Ed worked for the Hibernia magazine and Magill before going on to serve as Northern Ireland editor for The Irish Times and...
(2002). Secret History of the IRA. W. W. Norton and Company. ISBN 0-14-101041-X - Urban, Mark (1992). Big Boys' Rules. Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-16112-X
- Ryder, Chris (2005). A Special Kind of Courage: 321 EOD Squadron - Battling the Bombers. Methuen. ISBN 0-413-77223-3
External links
- BBC News: IRA deaths: The four shootings
- "Loughgall: Playing it rough", by Peter TaylorPeter Taylor (Journalist)Peter Taylor born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire is a British journalist and documentary-maker who had covered for many years the political and armed conflict in Northern Ireland, widely known as the Troubles...
. Daily MailDaily MailThe Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, 8 May 2001